Two major factors causing deterioration of traditional Chinese medicine

The specimens of traditional Chinese medicine is used as the physical reference basis for the inspection of traditional Chinese medicine by the drug control department. Proper storage and management can not only ensure the appearance quality of the s of traditional Chinese medicine, but also ensure the internal organizational structure of the medicine, that is, to maximize the inherent characteristics and characteristics of the medicine.

The causes of deterioration of plant medicinal materials can be divided into internal and external causes.

Internal cause refers to the variability of the medicinal material itself. Because most of the plant medicinal materials contain starch, sugar, fatty oil, volatile oil and other components, together with the water contained in the medicinal material itself, it not only becomes the basis for the deterioration of the medicinal material itself, but also provides survival conditions for pests and microorganisms

External factors mainly refer to air, temperature, humidity, sunlight, microorganisms (molds) and pests, which can cause complex physical, chemical or biochemical changes in the storage process of medicinal materials. Therefore, controlling sunlight, temperature, humidity and the water content of medicinal materials can prolong the life of medicinal materials. If not properly controlled, it can also cause the oxidation, hydrolysis, rancidity, discoloration, fermentation, mildew, corruption, and ,extensive diffusion of oil and damaged by worms and so on.

Common biological pollution include:

(1) External infection: Due to the dust, residual leaves, petals and other sundries often attached to the plant medicinal material samples, which are often mixed with insect eggs, when the conditions are suitable, the insect eggs hatch into larvae, constantly damaging the medicinal material

(2) Harvesting pollution: The medicinal materials are contaminated during the harvesting process, and they are not completely killed when they are dry, so they are brought to the storage place

(3) Contamination of storage containers: The containers for storing medicinal materials have not been cleaned and disinfected in advance, and there are insect eggs and microorganisms in them, which will infect the newly loaded medicinal materials

(4) Infection between plants and medicinal materials: If the medicinal materials containing insects are not treated in time, the pests will move at will and damage other medicinal materials